1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an information services system accessed via telephone by subscribers to obtain the services provided and, more particularly, to providing a service for automatically accessing automated telephonic information services, such as telephone banking, airline reservations, stock quotes, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
An increasing number of services are accessible via telephone without requiring a human operator. Such services include telephone banking, stock quotes and other financial services; airline, theatre, and other entertainment reservations; weather information for different cities; university registration; and many others. These services will be referred to generically as "automated telephonic information services".
At the same time, many businesses and individuals have installed or subscribed to information services systems which provide services such as voice mail. Voice mail permits subscribers to such services to receive phone calls from other people when the subscribers are not available to answer their telephone. However, the only way for anyone to obtain information from an automated telephonic information service is to dial the number for the service and respond to menu prompts generated by the automated telephonic information service. The telephone number and one or more personal identification numbers might be stored as repertory dial or speed dial numbers, but no known system enables the process of accessing an automated telephonic information service to be automated.